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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27864029">Merry Tune of Marrow Took</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightlilly/pseuds/nightlilly'>nightlilly</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Quirk Archives [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Magnus Archives (Podcast), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood, Blood and Gore, Body Horror, Experimentation, Gen, Human Experimentation, Kidnapping, Kurogiri is Shirakumo Oboro, Leitner Books (The Magnus Archives), Medical Experimentation, Medical Procedures, Suicidal Thoughts, Surgery, The Bone Turner’s Tale, Torture, Unethical Experimentation, bones - Freeform, flesh</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:54:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,883</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27864029</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightlilly/pseuds/nightlilly</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The success of Ujiko’s entire career can be traced back to one strange, little book.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Garaki Kyuudai | Ujiko Daruma &amp; Sensei | All For One</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Quirk Archives [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1734805</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Merry Tune of Marrow Took</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kyudai was very intrigued by things he didn't understand. It was one of the things that had driven him to become a doctor, as the human body had fascinated him since a very young age - around the end of the second generation of quirks or so. Quirks were still very new, a marvel, a commodity, and he wanted to know why this evolution was springing up all of a sudden. Humans as they were known today were a relatively young species and science had told him it had taken billions of years just to get from ape to man.</p><p>Kyudai had taken it as a challenge to find out about this rapid evolution at its source, and what better way to start then by getting a closer look at the body itself? Biology had always been one of his favourite subjects. The human body, even before quirks had developed, was such an interesting thing. He remembered a time in medical school where he thought he might have had to change career paths, the blood and guts and <em>everything </em>a little too much for his liking, but he'd gotten used to it. Again, strange what one could become accustomed to.</p><p>Quirks were still considered freakish when he was just starting out. Still categorized as "abilities" by the authorities and people that had them and "mutations" by everyone else. Kyudai hadn't known he had a quirk at that point, thinking he'd just gotten lucky in the gene pool and that he had a young face. He remembered thinking he was lucky, shaking his head at the news when some poor bastard decided to slice up a few ability-users just on principle.</p><p>He used to be so naïve.</p><p>Thinking about it now, all that unnecessary death just made his work easier. Corpses of ability-users were easier to procure for his studies without much fuss and paperwork, seeing as none of them had the same rights as the "normal" people back then. None of their family members had wanted to claim the bodies either, not wanting to admit someone had tainted their bloodline. When the laws towards quirk users came in decades later....well, his work was much more discreet, to put it one way.</p><p>He didn't tinker with the bodies too much. Blood and hair samples here, x-rays there. Autopsies upon autopsies upon autopsies. He wasn't the only one doing this sort of research, and he remembered cursing himself for letting someone else jump the gun and had found the connection between toe joints and quirks around mid-third generation.</p><p>
  <strike>The man who'd published the paper had unfortunately disappeared several decades later under mysterious circumstances - an American by the name of Johnny.</strike>
</p><p>While Kyudai had let that ship sail, every known name in science jumping in on the toe joint idea, weighing their opinions and such, he turned his attention to his more astute findings.</p><p>And failed miserably.</p><p>People didn't want to believe in a theory that quirks would only become stronger over time. They wanted to believe that they'd go away, that this was a temporary phenomina, only a minor setback in the greatness that was humanity despite the fact that evolution went forwards, not backwards and with ability-users not going down without a fight, quirks were here to stay.</p><p>
  <strike>Later generations would take his studies seriously, but at that point, he would have taken on a different name and a different profession.</strike>
</p><p>He became bitter after that, his name becoming synonimous with a joke in the scientific community. Ability-users feared what his work would mean for their children and grandchildren. Non-users only became more fearful, thinking about how they would protect themselves if <em>the freaks</em> became stronger.</p><p>It was after he had resigned himself to failure that he shut himself away, no longer working on living people as his practise couldn't be sustained when no one wanted to deal with a so-called hack, miserably working over the corspes he was provided with. Quirk users were still easy to procure even if he was considered a joke.</p><p>Kyudai might have been a failure, but he wasn't stupid, so when the man came to him, he knew the danger that was presented to him.</p><p>He was young, plain-looking except for the fact that his hair had gone white much too early. Other than that, Kyudai knew something was wrong considering the morgue was an incredibly secure area of the hospital, and non-staff wouldn't have been able to get in without rigorous screening. He hadn't even heard the door swing open.</p><p>Damn ability users.</p><p>"I've read your work, Garaki-san." His voice was smooth, and Kyudai had dealt with these types before. They'd offer him money to fix wounds that wouldn't be on the record for a price. He was used to them, but none of them bothered to make small talk. The fact this man had heard of his academic work at all was an oddity.</p><p>Kyudai remembered not being scared of him, of his type. Perhaps he should have been.</p><p>"I'm busy," he had said nonchaluntly, continuing to pick at the liver of the corpse on the operating table. His current subject had apparently had a quirk that allowed him to consume alcohol without suffering any damages. Kyudai was starting to believe that the fellow had just been a lucky bastard based on the test results. Still, perhaps in future generations, it could develop into something. Apparently the man had left behind two children.</p><p>"Is playing with corpses what you call busy?" The man mused, walking around the table to get a better look, unbothered by the splayed open body.</p><p>"Research isn't always writing long propsals. Studies actually must take place, and I know for a fact that living people don't like their insides to be prodded at, so corpses will do for now."</p><p>The man chuckled. "I suppose you're correct. Though I do have something that might make your research a touch more interesting, and I'm willing to provide both the samples and the funds necessary."</p><p>What caused him to accept the offer? The money was tempting, but the prospect of a new project? Something to aliviate his bordem and throw himself back into his work? That was all he needed.</p><p>The man had smiled when he accepted. "I believe this will be a wonderful partnership. I expect great things from you, Doctor."</p><p>The man, who offered him no name, had said he'd be in touch again soon. The transfer out of the hospital came the day after they'd met without warning, and the place he'd been brought to looked newly built, albeit underground.</p><p>All warning signs of something sinister, and yet he ignored all of them, walking to his new work station like a kid in a candy store, eying all the equipment - state of the art - with a mad gleam in his eyes. The man who'd hired him seemed to find the situation amusing, saying that if he had any questions, his office was just down the hall.</p><p>"Sir," Kyudai had asked, because this man was effectively his boss, "what exactly is it that you want me to do here?"</p><p>"Your theory on quirk singularity was quite a fascinating read," the man smiled. "But I can't help but wonder if it is possible to duplicate quirks themselves."</p><p>"Copies of quirks?" Kyudai had raised an eyebrow at that, but he was pleased with this new task. Science never progressed by asking if it could be done, but rather through trial and error. "I suppose if one could clone a sheep, cloning a quirk shouldn't be too far behind. It is all DNA, after all. Any particular one you want me to look for?"</p><p>"Why don't you start with your own?"</p><p>"My-" He took a breath. "My quirk? I don't have a quirk."</p><p>"Of course you do." The man cocked his head to the side. "I can see it clear as day. You'll live a long life because of it, Garaki. If replicated, it could help many people."</p><p>Kyudai went quiet, taking in this revelation.</p><p>"I admire your cofidence in this endeavour, Doctor. I trust you won't disappoint me." He turned to go.</p><p>"Sir?"</p><p>"Yes?"</p><p>"What should I call you?"</p><p>The man had smiled again. "My colleagues have taken to calling me All For One."</p><hr/><p>"Sir?"</p><p>Kyudai had gotten used to being covered with blood and guts and viscera at this point. All For One had made a point of telling him that his state of appearance after a day of work didn't bother him, so it was common for him to walk into his boss' office, lab coat and apron still wet and sometimes dripping slightly.</p><p>"Yes, Garaki?"</p><p>Only All For One called him by his real name at this point. All of the man's other associates referred to him as <em>The Good Doctor.</em></p><p>Kyudai frowned. It had been a few months since the change in his line of work, but he didn't seem to be making any progress with his task. Due to the rapid growth of liver cells, he'd started there, hoping he would be able to manipulate them in such a way that he would be able to isolate the quirk and then replicate it. He'd had to ask an old colleague of his to retrieve the samples. Despite Kyudai's skill, he was far away from being able to perform surgery on himself.</p><p>Extraction and manipulation were the easy part. Trying to get the new cells to bond with a host and have it either not be rejected or pose a threat to the host was a whole other mess of things.</p><p>He'd moved on to other tissue samples - the lungs, the heart, the brain. He was on the right track, but nothing seemed to stick.</p><p>All For One knew of his many failures, and offered him nothing but patience.</p><p>"I'm going to need a live sample."</p><p>The man hadn't seem that deterred at the request, and if he looked back at the memory, he would have said that All For One had been expecting it. Within the hour, there was a woman lying on his operating table, struggling against his restraints and screaming against her gag, tears in her eyes as she looked at him, silently pleading him to let her go.</p><p>Kyudai was a licensed medical professional. He had sworn an oath to do no harm.</p><p>All For One hadn't needed to persuade him to break it as he swallowed uneasily, watching her stop struggling as her veins were pumped full of anesthetic.</p><p>Her quirk allowed her to change the colour of her hair. Nothing useful. Nothing to be feared. And still no one to miss her because she was an ability user.</p><p>She died ten minutes after his cells were bonded to her. He scavenged all the necessary samples, and then realized that his boss had been expecting all of this, the large furnace in the basement, one big enough to fit a person, starting to make more sense.</p><p>Kyudai asked for more - those with the same blood type as him, doners that would have successful transplants, those with hidden quirks like his. He could not find a way to make any of it stick, to make the transplant work, to make them live longer like he would.</p><p>And he hated it. He could feel All For One's patience with his thinning, despite the pleasant smiles and calm demeanour. He knew that unless he had a breakthrough soon, he'd end up on his own operating table, strapped down as he was cut open.</p><p>One wouldn't blame his desperation, of course. He knew of All For One's power, the man had told him so of his possession of multiple abilities, of how each and every single one of them amassed into what he was now. And Kyudai was terrified - who wouldn't be? - of the god of wrath that walked among men and did as he pleased, punishment dealt horrifically to those that dare cross him.</p><p>Kyudai was not a religious man. He was a man of science, a man of facts and logic. He believed that humanity had no masters and that philosophy was nothing more than to satisfy the need to find a more interesting explanation of the human condition than "we evolved."</p><p>Still, he had no issue with calling All For One a deity. What else would you call a man so powerful, who could hold the balance of the world between his fingertips, pull on the strings of the hearts of mortals and have them wait on him with bended knees?</p><p>Kyudai had no desire to anger the man, so he worked tirelessly. Bodies began to pile up on his operating table, one after another, no progress being made. Each of them died miserably a few minutes after the cells being bonded to them, their immune systems fighting it off as if it were some sort of disease and failing, as if it weren't an ability, something now natural to the human race.</p><p>Kyudai was too tired to start sedating them, to waste any more time with any of that. Thicker restraints would do.</p><p>Each day became tiresome, panic rising as he believed that it would be his last, All For One's disappointment in him rising. Often times he thought it would be easier to run his scalpel along his wrists and end it. Screw his fucking quirk - it would be better to die by his own hand than become a test subject. He knew how his master dealt with those that angered him. It would be painful, it would be hell.</p><p>Each time he picked it up, something stopped him. Whether it was fear or something else, he didn't know.</p><p>Kyudai was so used to having time to himself that he was acutely aware of being watched on the day everything changed.</p><p>"Fucking ability users," he scowled to himself, watching the two men that had helped themselves into his lab. They were both quite tall and very solid-built, and Kyudai had wondered if there was something else to be found rather than flesh and bone if he cut into them. He couldn't place it, but there was something off about them. Not in the way All For One seemed to radiate an aura of power that made him intimidating. These two men just seemed wrong.</p><p><em>"What's that?" </em>One of them asked in heavy accented English.</p><p><em>"That weird human thing," </em>the other responded, huffing. <em>"We've got a package for you."</em></p><p>He walked over to Kyudai's work station, pausing for a moment to look at the body on his workstation that had died mere minutes ago. He smiled, almost hungrily, at the doctor. <em>"Still warm, ain't he?"</em></p><p>He didn't have a chance to respond - not that he wanted to - before the man held out his delivery, his companion walking around the room and examining the various fridges and cabinets where he kept samples and tools.</p><p>The man that was looking through fridge pulled out a vial. <em>"Can I keep this?"</em></p><p>Kyudai looked at him strangely. "It's skin."</p><p>
  <em>"But can I keep it?"</em>
</p><p>"No," he said slowly. "I need it for my research."</p><p>His companion shot him a glare, then shook his head, setting the package down. <em>"Quite important that one. Might want to open it quickly."</em></p><p>The two of them left without another word, and Kyudai tore into the wrapping. There was no name on it, no return address either. The book was a simple black paperback, the title <em>The Boneturner's Tale </em>written in white font.</p><p>Kyudai didn't quite know what to make of it, this innocuous gift, and full of panic and worry about his soon-to-be death date he wanted to fling the book aside and plunge back into his work, unbothered by what it was, where it had came from, and who those men were.</p><p>But he'd always been curious, and his current subject was already dead, so no progress was being made there.</p><p>The book was incredibly thick, but that did not stop Kyudai from soaking in each and every detail about the man, the Boneturner, no longer the weak-willed young man that had been so cautious about books so gorey as this, taking pleasure, even a slight pride, in the way this man - whoever they were - cut and hacked and sawed and twisted and ripped through flesh and cartilage and bone. He hadn't moved a single muscle as he had devoured the book and its entire content, and when he was done he set the book down.</p><p>He paused for a minute or two, contemplating the text he'd just read, fog filling his head as he reached forward, not bothering to put his work gloves back on. The corpse on the table, now dead a few hours, had been stitched up. He hadn't had the chance to scavenge for the usual samples before being interrupted, but he had sewn it up after the initial surgery.</p><p>If one asked Kyudai what had convinced him of the book, of what he did next, he would say that it had almost been innate, as if he knew it would work despite all odds.</p><p>He reached right into the corspe's chest, breaking through skin, through muscle, through the rib cage.</p><p>And restarted its heart.</p><p>It stuttered and squealed and, of course, it screamed. It screamed even louder when the hole closed itself up, louder still when he pulled at the different parts trying to commit their touch to memory, trying to learn what it was he could now do to his little test subjects.</p><p>His play things.</p><p>All For One didn't seem too concerned about his blood-covered hands, nor did he notice the book, but smiled as the thing that was once a corspse moaned and wailed. It wasn't human anymore, but it did recognize pain, the noises it made become mute as it dulled over time.</p><p>"You've done well, Garaki." He tilted his head to the side as he studied the thing. "Not only have you duplicated a quirk, but you've also made it a blank slate. Do you think perhaps you can make it obedient?"</p><p>Tinkering with the brain was just as easy as tinkering with the rest of it, and Kyudai took absolute delight and pulling the things apart and putting them back together. He gave them quirks, he changed their appearances, he molded them - each and every one of them - in whatever ways he saw fit.</p><p>Kyudai made sure they were each unique, all with the basic principles All For One wanted. Strong, durable, obedient, all lying in wait for some greater plan.</p><p>Around some time between the fourth and fifth generations of quirks, All For One had the hospital built atop their lab, and Kyudai slipped back into his role of doctor, scouting out the patients with the best quirks.</p><p>Children were so easy to mold, so easy to manipulate and take apart. He hated them so, liked it much better when they stopped screaming, stopped whining. Children were so much better when they were compliant.</p><p>It was around this time that two things happened.</p><p>The first was that the two men that had delivered the book had come back.</p><p>He'd long ago realized that humans were not the only thing to wander this earth, but he did not question where they came from. It no longer amused him. Those two men, now wearing the uniforms of some sort of postal service, looked just the same as they had been decades ago.</p><p>One of them went through his desk, pulling out the book. <em>"You're done with this. It has elsewhere to be."</em></p><p>Kyudai hadn't argued with that. He hadn't needed the book itself beyond reading it the first time. He never saw the book, nor those two men again.</p><p>The second oddity came when All For One had designated another job for him. Kyudai had already met the man's ward, his supposed successor, but the task of crafting a caretaker for the boy was something different.</p><p>The blue-haired corpse that had been brought in was different, his instructions what to do with him different.</p><p>He had to be intelligent enough to take care of the child, but he had to be obedient. It could work, but it would take time to work over the brain to get the correct conditions.</p><p>This one would be perfect, he decided. It would be obedient, but it would be well put together.</p><p>The first time Kyudai restarted his heart, he did the same as all the other Nomu. Brainless, he called them, because that's what they were, and this one yelled and screamed just like the rest of them.</p><p>And then it stopped, became silent. That wasn't right, so he stopped its heart again.</p><p>This corpse wasn't normal. It was - he couldn't describe it right - it was like it was marked. By who, or by what, he didn't know, but it didn't seem to want to give. No matter what he tried, it never seemed to come out quite right, making Kyudai stop its heart again and again and again. He had no qualms about it now, about his process, didn't mind getting his hands quite literally dirty.</p><p>The gloves were only to hide the claws now, skin stretched over old bone that made it easier to dig through each carcass like a warm knife through butter.</p><p>The thing that wouldn't surrender the boy gave up eventually. Kyudai noticed about two weeks in that his body no longer resisted to his touch, that whatever had been protecting it had recanted its blessing, allowing him to work freely.</p><p>A short time later, he had All For One come inspect the boy.</p><p>"How may I help you, Master?" The boy's eyes looked dead, the right one missing. Kyudai had to reconstruct a part of his skull, a lot of it crushed in due to his untimely death, but his anger at the thing that had once protected it had made him tear it from its socket. It now sat in a jar on the counter across the room. He planned to put it back in, but he'd just been a bit too restless to present this one.</p><p>All For One smiled. "This is your best work yet, doctor."</p><p>"Any quirks in mind for this one?"</p><p>"Give him the usual - durability and all that." All For One rested a hand against his face as he studied the boy. "Hmm. You said this one has a quirk to create clouds? Perhaps we can make that more beneficial somehow."</p><p>Kyudai nodded eagerly, giving the boy a vicious smile. The boy didn't even blink.</p><p>"Fix him up, too. Make him unrecognizable. We don't want an investigation on our hands."</p><p>The first thing Kyudai fixed were his vocal chords. Then his eye. The boy watched him do this, quizzical, still a bit too dead to feel pain. He would, in time, but not now.</p><p>"What are you doing," he asked, just as Kyudai was about to stop his heart again. His voice was a bit too low now, but All For One had said unrecognizable. Better safe than sorry.</p><p>Kyudai had smiled at him. Maybe he shouldn't stop his heart this time.</p><p>"I'm going to make you perfect."</p><p>This was to be his masterpiece. </p>
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